1. Veronica...um, I mean Mira (Salma Malhas), who has just broken up with bad boy Reggie...um, I mean Nasser (Mohammed Nizar)
2. Good girl Betty...um, I mean Layla (Ban Halaweh), who is dating Fahed (Yasser al Hadi)
Ok, I'll stop with the Archie references.
4. The bullied good-boy Yassin (Sultan Alkhail, left)
5. The bellgerant drug-dealer Tareq (Abdelrazzaq Tarkas)
6. Tareq's gay-coded sidekick/boyfriend Omar (Mohammed Hindieh, left, the one in pink)
At Petra, Tareq, Omar, and Nasser beat up Yassin, who runs away and falls into a pit. He is rescued by the mysterious Vera (Aysha Shahaltough).
That night, amid the sexual shenanigans, someone throws Tareq off a cliff to his death. Guess who?
Later, a mysterious boy in an old-fashioned Bedouin costume comes through Mira's window. His name is Kerasquoixian, Keras for short (Hamzeh Okab, top photo).
Keras has come from the other realm to warn Mira that she and her friends are in deadly danger: an evil jinn has been unleashed, with a murderous hatred of all humans. They must find its summoner (the person who called it from the other realm) to push it back, or other jinn will be released, and everyone will die.
At a memorial service for Tareq, Nasser pulls out a knife, says "We don't belong in this world," and slits his throat.
Two of the three bullies who harassed Yassir. Do you have any idea who the jinn and its summoner are?
Meanwhile, Hassan returns to Petra to look for clues about the jinn.
Omar, investigating on his own, discovers that Keras looks like a missing Bedouin boy named Hosny. Was this all the insane ramblings of a deluded boy?
There are some game changers, some "Wow, I never thought that you were a jinn!" moments, and a pleasant cliff-hanging ending.
Heterosexism: The jinn and the summoner are always male-female, and jinn always wants to "unite" with the summoner so they can "be together forever." Sounds like a heterosexual union to me.On the other hand, Mira and Keras don't seem to be attracted to each other.
Beefcake: No. Yassir takes his shirt off while he's in the pit.
Gay references: No. This is the Middle East. What did you expect?
Gay subtexts: Omar is quite obviously gay, in love with Tareq, and then he buddy-bonds with Keras.
Jordanian scenery: A lot of Petra, not much Amman.
Side note: How secular is Jordan? No hijabs anywhere in the city.
My grade: A-.
Jordan is basically where the old Emir of Mecca was exiled to after the Sauds took over Mecca, the British (Who else?) taking 4/5 of Mandatory Palestine and just reneging on the Balfour Declaration. Make of that what you will.
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